ShirleyNY
A town of 28,375, settled in 1952.
Is Shirley a good place to live?
Shirley’s median rent is $2,056 a month, above both the New York town median ($1,101 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 25% of the land in Shirley is conserved, against 5.2% in New York’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, at 1,333 acres with 6.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. We don’t grade Shirley yet; the figures below are still real.
95% of working residents leave Shirley for work
Where Shirley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and 59 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shirley. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Stadium & arenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
36 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
33 mi National Historic SiteSagamore Hill National Historic Site122K visitors a year
36 mi State parkJones Beach State Park
10 mi LandmarkCalverton National Cemetery
6 mi Park & preserveLong Island Central Pine BarrensPhoto credits
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum: iMatthew // talk //, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sagamore Hill National Historic Site: Unknown, Public domain · Jones Beach State Park: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Calverton National Cemetery: United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Public domain · Long Island Central Pine Barrens: Americasroof, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Shirley: who provides what
Shirley is unincorporated, so Suffolk County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Shirley.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Shirley
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 84% of U.S. communities. Since 2005, 20 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Shirley.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Shirley has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Shirley for work: only 5% work in town. Shirley’s average trip to work is 33 minutes. Jobs based in Shirley grew to 4,654 in 2023, 712 more than in 2013.
| Shirley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.5% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
24.7% of Shirley is conserved land
13 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The trail density in Shirley is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge | 6.6 mi | 1,333 |
| 2. Southaven County Park | 3.4 mi | 329 |
| 3. Shirley Marina County Park | 0.8 mi | 41 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Shirley
Shirley has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 23° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Shirley is
Shirley beats the New York average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 42% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Shirley.
| Shirley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Shirley | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| More smokers | 13.3% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Shirley’s typical home value is about $548K
The typical Shirley home is worth about $548,000, up 4.9% in a year, close to the New York typical home. 92% of Shirley households own their home.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Shirley
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Shirley
About 5 of every 100 Shirley residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Shirley’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Shirley.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirley | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Yaphank | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mastic Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mastic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manorville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Shirley, Yaphank, Mastic Beach, Mastic and Manorville aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shirley with a neighbor →
Questions about Shirley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Shirley, NY a good place to live?
We don’t grade Shirley yet; the figures below are still real.